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Trade Policy, Exchange Rates, and the Globalization Surge of the 1990s

Douglas A. Irwin

The Journal of Economic History2025https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022050725000154article
AJG 3ABDC A*
Weight
0.48

Abstract

The decision by developing countries to open up their economies to foreign trade and investment in the 1980s and 1990s was a momentous event in world history. How and why did this trade policy revolution take place? Most accounts of trade politics stress domestic interest groups or trade agreements as driving policy changes, but these explanations fail in this period. This paper notes that many import restrictions were imposed for balance of payments purposes, as a way of avoiding a devaluation and protecting foreign exchange reserves from depletion under fixed exchange rates. A shortage of foreign exchange in the mid-1980s forced countries, under the guidance of economists, to shift to a more flexible exchange rate system that boosted export earnings and made import controls unnecessary for payments balance. Just as seen during the Great Depression, the exchange rate regime was a key factor in a country’s trade policy.

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https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022050725000154

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@article{douglas2025,
  title        = {{Trade Policy, Exchange Rates, and the Globalization Surge of the 1990s}},
  author       = {Douglas A. Irwin},
  journal      = {The Journal of Economic History},
  year         = {2025},
  doi          = {https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1017/s0022050725000154},
}

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Trade Policy, Exchange Rates, and the Globalization Surge of the 1990s

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Evidence weight

0.48

Balanced mode · F 0.40 / M 0.15 / V 0.05 / R 0.40

F · citation impact0.41 × 0.4 = 0.16
M · momentum0.60 × 0.15 = 0.09
V · venue signal0.50 × 0.05 = 0.03
R · text relevance †0.50 × 0.4 = 0.20

† Text relevance is estimated at 0.50 on the detail page — for your query’s actual relevance score, open this paper from a search result.